For the first time in 28 years, Northampton County voters elect a new district attorney on Nov. 5. Competing to replace John Morganelli, a Democrat now running for judge, are Republican Tom Carroll, who has been both prosecutor and defense attorney, and Democrat Terry Houck, Morganelli’s first deputy district attorney and a former Philadelphia police officer. The Morning Call asked both candidates about issues the county’s next top cop could face. Today’s focus is on the death penalty, which has come under close scrutiny in Pennsylvania.

Question

If or under what circumstances would you seek the death penalty? Should the cost of trying a death penalty case be a factor in making that decision? Do you consider the death penalty to have a deterrent effect?

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Why it’s important

District attorneys have the discretion to pursue cases in which the punishment could be the ultimate loss of liberty — the defendant’s life. Capital punishment can be pursued for first-degree murder as long as there are aggravating circumstances, like the victim is a police officer or a child. The decision to prosecute a case as a capital one means it will be more expensive because certain expert witnesses are required during a penalty phase before a jury and because of a lengthy appeals process.

Advocates say the punishment has a deterrent effect and rids the world of individuals who have committed society’s worst crimes. Critics warn that innocent people could be put to death, and the penalty is disproportionately sought against minorities. Fewer prosecutors in Pennsylvania have been seeking the death penalty, but Morganelli, the county’s sitting district attorney, has been a vocal proponent, even suing then-Gov. Robert Casey in 1993 to sign a death warrant. Morganelli obtained the county’s first two capital murder convictions in a generation.

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No one has been put to death in Pennsylvania since 1999, and Gov. Tom Wolf has placed a moratorium on the punishment.

What Democrat Terry Houck says

Capital murder still exists and is part of our law. In Northampton County, each case is evaluated on its individual set of facts. I have personally prosecuted capital murder cases in all three counties (Bucks, Lehigh and Northampton counties) in which I have worked as a prosecutor. I will continue to do so. In Pennsylvania, in order to try a person for capital murder, at least one aggravating factor, as set forth by statute, must exist; each case is weighed on many different factors, including the number of aggravating and mitigating factors.

As long as it is the law of this commonwealth, I will not speak to the family of a brutally murdered child, police officer or senior citizen and tell them capital murder will not be pursued due to an arbitrary policy of this office.

The monetary cost of trying a capital murder, or any other violent crime, will never be considered by me. The value of a victim’s life cannot be measured by money. The argument of whether or not capital punishment is a deterrent is not considered by me in the evaluation process; I follow the law as written.

What Republican Tom Carroll says

I support the seeking of the death penalty in limited situations. Each case must be evaluated on its own merits. I promise the citizens of Northampton County that I will seek the death penalty in cases involving the killing of law enforcement and those who commit mass shootings. The decision to seek the death penalty is based not on any possible deterrent effect but rather on justice and retribution for society in the most heinous of cases and will never be based on a calculation of the cost or to use it as a tool to negotiate a guilty plea.